Where Does Humor Come From?

[Jean Riva]

I landed on Amazon.com today by accident when I clicked on what I thought was a joke. The Amazon page I found myself on listed 3,259 books on the topic of learning how to write humor and that got me to thinking---I know, that's a rare occasion but I do have my moments. Anyway, is it possible to learn how to be funny from a book? Has anyone here ever read a book on writing humor? And if you have, would you recommend it?

I just counted the books in my library on various aspects of learning how to write and I have thirty-six but not one on humor. I've always thought that humor comes from conditioning i.e. growing up in a family that sees humor more easily than others or you become a class clown to cover up for some perceived shortcoming. Where does humor come from?---in general and yours personally.

3,259 humor writing books

[theBarefoot]

Interesting topic. As with anything, aspects of humor can be taught and/or learned. You can learn the vocabulary, like call-back and timing, from a book. Applying them is a different story. We all take English classes in school, but how many people can turn the language into a novel or poem? Then there are those who never took an art class in their life, but somehow create amazing paintings and sculptures.

Humor is like any other art. A certain amount of the skill can be taught, but the application is ultimately and art. I could read about grades of marble, different chisels, and perspectives all day, but as soon as I dropped a hammer the doomed rock would only be pebbles, not the Pieta.

Then there is the savant side of humor. Sometimes we do things that fit within the technical definition of humor and we don't realize we did it. We may not know the term for it. We just do it and it's funny. It's the never-ending balance of art and science.

Hey...that's what this site is about!

[EMohrman]

I agree, great topic.

I also agree with Randy when he says that humor is like any other art. I've long believed that "art" is the second step of a 2-step ladder. The first step is craft. Craft is what's learned - basically, the technical aspects. I think you have to master craft before you can create art, but I also don't think that mastering craft guarantees you'll make it to that second step. That ability is something congenital. Doesn't matter whether it's nurtured... if it's in the nature it will find its way out.

Mastering the craft is the study, the practice, the experimentation. As Randy pointed out, some painter can make a great painting without ever having taken an art course, but I guarantee he studied the greats on his own and worked at it.

I think a lot of people get by as masters of their craft without getting to the art. No matter what artistic medium you look at, there are always those few indivduals who just rise above everyone else, break new ground, and last through the ages. That's art.

[Chris M.C.]

I am much more simply "weird" than I am funny, but I blame it all on my family. Most of them are strange people. I do have one uncle who is very funny. This is a very interesting question. I will think about this more.

[Jean Riva]

I've had a lot of formal training as an artist. I've even tried my hand at craving marble so the artist analogies works for me in explaining if humor writing can be learned from a book, or not. What you guys are saying about it being a marriage of 'art' and 'craft' or 'art' and 'science' makes sense.

As I said when I started this discussion, I've never read a book on writing humor but, in a way, I've kind of had an informal course in learning to build and pace humor by listening to my husband tell stories over the years. He was a gifted story teller as his own father was. (Oral story telling for both of them.) I've only been trying to incorporate humor in my writing in the last five years.

I just found an interesting interview of Dave Barry on writing humor. The bottom third---a section titled What is Humor---is especially interesting to me. He starts out saying that "humor is really closely related to fear and despair" and he goes on to explain what he means by that. I have to think on that idea some more but I'm pretty sure I've written some things that would fall into that description. Can anyone else see a close relation to fear and despair in any of the humor you've written?

http://www.learner.org/catalog/extras/interviews/dbarry/db02.html

[jcorn]

You ask: Can anyone else see a close relation to fear and despair in any of the humor you've written?

Absolutely. I once wrote a story about a repairman that went under our house to fix our heating system and refused to listen to me when I warned him there might be a raccoon under there. It was full of fear (mine) and despair (his, after he accidentally touched a sleeping raccoon in some dark corner of our crawl space ) People raved about how funny it was. It even got featured. I did try to write it so it'd be humorous but I wasn't sure anyone else would see it that way. It was mostly true.

Here is what I don't get: WHY do people say, "I'm sorry but I think this is freaking hilarious". They apologize! Why? Do they think writers will be insulted because they are laughing? Getting someone to laugh thrills me. I don't always understand WHY they are laughing but I don't care - as long as they do.

[Jean Riva]

People do do that, don't they---apologize for laughing when they read something we wrote based on a desperate experience we've had. I don't know if they don't understand that we meant it to come off humorous or if they feel guilty about laughing at our misfortunes. Either way, it doesn't bother me so long I don't come off sounding like a total amateur.

[jcorn]

You ask: "is it possible to learn how to be funny from a book? Has anyone here ever read a book on writing humor? And if you have, would you recommend it?"

I think it comes from depression and here's why: some of the driest and most boring interviews I've ever seen have been when comedians were the guests. Some were downright dreary and I wanted to rescue the poor guy (yes, it was usually a guy) or just give him a hug and a stiff drink. Robin Williams was an exception but I think his tuning button is stuck on manic.

I never think I'm funny, probably because I didn't grow up in miserable circumstances and I don't feel depressed. I think humor is a survival skill and I do believe that if it is analyzed too closely it could vanish so I'm going to shut up soon.

[Jean Riva]

What you said about humor being a survival skill is certainly true with me. I never even thought about writing humor until I one day consciously decided to look for humor in my daily life. You're probably right about analyzing it too closely and it will vanish which is why I'm still struggling with the decision to actually read a book on writing humor.

[theBarefoot]

Daily-life humor is the thing that keeps us alive. Thank God my toe nails are funny or I couldn't get up in the morning.

[jcorn]

Here are the latest apologies (or possibly complaints?) I received on a humorous piece written other than at AC , baffling me yet again the connection between humor and REMORSE or guilt or whatever:
"Sorry to laugh, but it's funny"

"Way too funny"

" I hate to say that I was smiling"

and one person wrote this, but he usually writes in the horror genre: "Just think if after the blood soaked into the floor, a gruel of things paddled from its murky depths."

One person wanted to know if the person I'd written about KNEW I was doing it. A little care and compassion to make me feel guilty.

Anyone care to comment on the apologetic or complaining comments? I'm confused.

The article, by the way, was about a man's battle with a stuck bathroom drawer. It was very, very short. Short pieces seem to get more comments than longer ones. Short humor pieces, anyway. MY short humor pieces, to be specific.

Pros can probably write longer pieces and get people to come along for the ride. Jean Riva and Barefoot and Donna can write longer pieces and hold my interest..and anyone else here who is on my friend's list. (gag, hack, overtly sucking up).

P.S. I almost always write at AC these days. I hope we don't ONLY have to write at Ac to be allowed among the Amish.

[Jean Riva]

Jane--- Is there a way you could give a link to the piece that brought out these comments? It's kind of hard without reading something but I'm wondering if tweaking the title might set the readers up better to expect to laugh.

[jcorn]

I think it is short enough to list here but be forewarned. I wrote it in about 5 minutes, no editing. I know it stinks. How's that for setting up reader anticipation?

Article Title: Battle in the Bathroom. Round One Score: Drawer -2, Husband - 0

I am writing this for two reasons:
1. I want to see another article appear and take the heat off my last one.
2. My nerves are fraying and here's the latest reason:

Just one floor below me and a slight turn to the left, there is our main bathroom. One of the drawers came out of the cabinet and a simple home repair has been attempted. However, according to my husband, the drawer "bites back".

That observation of his brought a lot of questions to mind but I haven't pursued them or even tried talking to him at this point. It has taken me about 20 years to learn that keeping quiet is best in these situations, especially when one's husband is yelling at a drawer. One yells, the other bites. Neither one seems to be fighting fair.

I do know a few things. There is a razor-sharp piece of metal that was helping to hold the drawer in place. It slipped - but not enough to be visible. My husband sliced himself on that "d''mned demon piece of metal" (his words), twice. Both times he yelled so loudly that we all ran downstairs to see what was going on. There was lots of blood but a very small puncture wound. Then he put a band-aid on the finger, forgot how he got the wound and sliced himself (through the band-aid) again.

I wish I'd called a handyman. Too late now. He is determined to win this battle. I think he will. Meanwhile, it looks pretty grim and gruesome in that bathroom. Feel free to share you own experiences of home maintenance and home repair disasters. Spare no details. It might cheer up my husband. I just heard another yell. Stay tuned for updates...maybe.
(END of Article)